Category: Pro Audio

Mackie set the standard in inexpensive, small form-factor recording and sound consoles. I own a 1402 VLZ console that fits in a small brief case and sounds great. The problem is that it is the wrong console for most of the work I do that will need a console. Coming from the broadcast side of the world and not the recording side, I want things like a cue buss that sits at the end of the fader travel, or the control room monitors to mute when I turn on the mike so I don’t get feedback. I want logic that I can switch a CD player into play when I bring up the fader or hit a start button. None of these “features” are typically required on recording and sound consoles and that was where the biggest market for companies like Mackie are.

Allen & Heath, a respected name in recording consoles, has just come out with their first stab at a broadcast console in the same sort of form-factor as the Mackie 1402. It is called the XB-14 and has most of the Bells and Whistles that I have been looking for. I have been told by Mark Haynes at Leo’s Pro Audio that they should have one in next week to test drive and I am looking forward to seeing if they got it right.

One “down” side of the console is the price. It is selling at just under $1,400. I have seen it advertised at $1,200. The Mackie 1402 is running around $500. I can see that the XB-14 has a some extra features to make it more of a broadcast desk, but $700 more? I hope some of these boxes sell to encourage folks like Mackie to compete for this market.